Modding… Modding never changes

Table of contents

1. Introduction

We, human beings, have a strange knack for imagining Doomsday. We like to depict our planet devastated by plagues, war (either biological or nuclear), alien attacks or all together at the same time.

One of the videogames that best shows how could be our world after a nuclear holocaust is Fallout 3. And I’m not the only one with that feeling.

However, if you have been around the videogame scene for a while, you will know that Fallout games can be completely enhanced using mods… Well, that is a complete understatement, as you could play a whole different game with the appropriate mods. Or you could break the game. That’s the tricky part.

Getting right to the point, vanilla Fallout 3 sucks in many different ways. You cannot even run the game if your box uses Windows 7 or higher. A lot of tinkering has to be done for the game to run flawlessly.

There is an awesome guide to fix the game in order to run under modern versions of Windows, written by BenWah, which I intend to follow. And there are a hell of a lot of videos by Gopher with the best Fallout 3 mods your money can buy (well, sort of). Give credit when credit is due, you know.

So, there is no original work here, just an extended guide to put things into perspective. And this perspective is divided into two parts:

  1. The firs part is about fixing the game. At the end of this chapter, you will have a flawless Fallout 3 game, running smoothly, with no CTD’s (Crash to Desktop in jargon), but it will be a vanilla game, at least content, graphics and audio-wise. No changes will be made to the story or the way you perceive the Wasteland.
  2. The second part is about enhancing the game. This is pretty based on personal taste, so feel free to ignore me (too bad) or, even better, modify this guide to your heart’s content. I have picked the mods I like most, but your mileage may vary.

I don’t DO want to set the world on fire…

2. The tools we need

First and foremost, we need Fallout 3 Game Of The Year Edition installed. This guide refers to the Steam version of the game.

We will need three additional tools to get the job done:

Install them first and we are good to go.

3. Fixing the game

At the end of this section, you will have a version of Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition that:

3.1. Install the game

Pretty much straightforward, uh? Well, no. You need to run the game at least once to create the .ini files we will tinker with.

Again: you MUST run the game at least once in order to fix it.

The launcher dutifully informs you that video hardware is about to be detected, thus setting up the configuration for you.

Fallout 3 video hardware detection

Lucky me, my video card is up to the task (however, you don’t want to know the specs of my box; no need to cry).

High Quality settings set

And here we go! This is the launcher in all its greenish glory.

Fallout 3 launcher

Take a good look at it, for you are going to see this window A LOT. Trust me.

Finally, click on Play, and enjoy the view.

Fallout 3 main menu

Bear in mind that no matter how hard you pray or curse, this is as far as the game gets running in any version of Windows higher than XP. But this is all we need, for now. Just click on Quit and check this files and folders under [%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Fallout3]:

3.2. Disable Games for Windows Live

In BenWah’s guide you can either update your Games for Windows Live (GFWL for short) installation, or disable it. Unless it’s vital to you, I recommend disabling GFWL, just in case.

To disable GFWL, you need to download and run Games for Windows LIVE disabler.

DON’T use Nexus Mod Manager (NMM for short) to download this tool. Download it manually instead.

If you get a warning about absent FALLOUT.INI, please run the game once (I told you).

GFWL Disabler error

In the following window, just click on Disable G4WL.

GFWL Disabler

Of course, you want to remove GFWL buttons in the game.

GFWL Remove Fallout 3 buttons

We have our first patch!

GFWL Disabled

Notice the absent LIVE option in the main menu screen:

Fallout 3 main menu with no LIVE

3.3. Patching the game

Fallout 3 comes with a shitload of bugs, even after 5 DLC’s. That is Bethesda’s hallmark, but people has come to, if not love these bugs, at least consider them like you would consider your old grandpa pissing in the punch bowl on Christmas Eve. Slightly disgusting but, nevertheless, adorable.

Thanks to the efforts of BenWah and other people around, we have the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch, with a huge list of fixes and improvements.

Once downloaded (manually, not using NMM), just run the fairly large executable (over 200 MB) and follow the wizard:

  1. Welcome window.
    UF3P Welcome window
  2. License agreement.
    UF3P License agreement
  3. Patch notes. These are important, as the clearly state that you should have the GOTY version of the game, with all DLC to take full advantage of the patch.
    UF3P Patch notes
  4. Fallout 3 location.
    UF3P Fallout 3 location
  5. Component selection. You should keep the default settings (all DLC and several minor but useful fixes).
    UF3P Component selection
  6. Start menu folder.
    UF3P Start menu folder
  7. Installation summary.
    UF3P Installation summary
  8. You should then see this window to be happy.
    UF3P Status check
  9. Here we go! It takes a while, because the patch moves around a lot of files.
    UF3P Installation progress
  10. When the installation finishes, the program shows a dialog with some techno-gibberish speak. Fear not! Fallout 3 crashes if running in a box with multiple cores, but the patch fixes the configuration options automatically. Click Yes, of course.
    UF3P Multicore fix
  11. Happy ending!
    UF3P Happy ending

There is one final step to ensure that the patch is loaded in the proper place, at the bottom of the data files.

Each data file can come in two flavors: .esm for master files or .esp for secondary (patch) files. The DLCs themselves are .esm files.

This is a good time to check the load order of the game data files, so fire up LOOT to see what is happening under the hood. On a side note, Gopher has published two videos, one explaining what is ‘load order’ and why it is important (20:00), and other explaining what is LOOT and how to put it to good use (13:59).

LOOT first run after UF3P

After clicking on the leftmost icon, the program proposes the proper load order, meanwhile detecting data inconsistencies.

LOOT after sorting

You might be surprised to check that there are inconsistencies in the main DLC files, like Anchorage.esm (master file for Operation Anchorage DLC). As we said, Bethesda is not known for releasing solid, fully tested programs. We’ll address that later.

For now, just click on Apply to put the unofficial patch at the bottom of the load order.

You should test the game right now. If everything went OK, you should be able to play the game.

Fallout 3 first run

Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker!

3.4. Cleaning up the master files

Sure, you could play the game right now if you want. You would be playing a crippled, prone to crash game, but hey, if that’s your thing…

We have miles to go before we sleep, though. Cheers for the brave who don’t take second best!

As we saw earlier, the DLC data files themselves are somewhat dirty. This is what LOOT has to say about them:

The only clean file in your load order is Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esm, as expected. No wonder, this is a huge patch that sits on the game and all its DLCs.

In every single case, LOOT has a sugestion: clean with FO3Edit.

FO3Edit is a utility aimed at mod creators and users both, weighting more on the first group. Gopher has a fantastic video explaining how to use TES5Edit (the Skyrim version of the tool) to clean your master files (13:24). You should left what you were doing right now and watch the video. I’ll wait.

We are going to clean the master files, one by one. This guide about cleaning files with TES5Edit comes in handy, but ignore it if you just want the heart of the issue.

I will show the instructions to clean one of the files, considering the rest are treated all the same.

  1. Fire up FO3Edit. The tool does a good job detecting Fallout 3 data folder, thus showing all the data files we are using so far.
    FO3Edit master-plugin selection
  2. Right-click on the floating window and select Select none. We are going to choose the files to clean, one by one.
    FO3Edit selecting none
  3. Now select the following files:
    • Fallout3.esm.
    • The data file you are going to clean (for example, Anchorage.esm).
      FO3Edit selecting files
  4. After a while, depending of the size of the data file, the tool finishes loading the data, plus the Fallout3.exe executable itself.
    FO3Edit file loaded
  5. Right-click on the Anchorage.esm node in the left panel tree and select Apply filter for cleaning.
    FO3Edit apply filter for cleaning
  6. The filtering may take a little while, depending on how dirty the file is. When the filtering is completed, a line with the heading “[Filtering done]” appears in the right panel. The tree in the left panel shows the files with fancy colors which you don’t have to give a fuck, unless you want to delve deeper into the inner workings of the mods.
    FO3Edit after filtering
  7. First, we are going to remove ITM (Identical to Master) records. They are not going to crash the game, but they take up space, and trust me, when you get the I-am-going-to-install-every-fancy-mod-available spree, you will need as much space as you can get. Right-click on the Anchorage.esm node in the left panel tree and select Remove “Identical to Master” records.
    FO3Edit remove ITM records
  8. Everytime you try to change a data file, a big warning appears. But, as seasoned hard-ass mod installers, we are sure as hell of what we are doing. Aren’t we?
    FO3Edit warning
  9. After a little while, a message shows up in the right panel, reporting 43696 records processed and 54 records removed (don’t worry if the numbers don’t match; your setup may be slightly different).
    FO3Edit ITM records deleted
  10. Next, we are going to undelete and disable deleted references… Unlike ITM records, which can be considered mostly harmless, deleted references can (and will) fuck up your game, because they are references to objects that are supposed to be in the game, but they no longer are, and no one has marked them as disabled. So, any mod using a deleted but not disabled reference is going to eventually crash your system. We are talking serious shit here. To get rid of these nasty sons of a bitch, right click on the Anchorage.esm node in the left panel tree and select Undelete and Disable References.
    FO3Edit undelete and disable references
  11. A bit of processing again, and we have another message in the right panel, reporting 43642 records processed and 10 undeleted records.
    FO3Edit after undeleting and disabling
  12. Job done! We just need to save the modified data file. To do that, just click on the close button of the tool window. A pop-up window should appear with just one file, the one you have been tinkering with (Anchorage.esm, in this case). If more than one file is shown, press ESC or click on the close button and start over again, because you surely screwed up at one point in the process. Anyway, make sure that the option Backup plugins is selected before clicking Ok.
    FO3Edit save changed files

You have to repeat the process for each and every one of the aforementioned data files.

In case you wonder, FO3Edit creates a folder named [FO3Edit Backups] under [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty\Data] where it stores backup copies of the mods we have modified.

Run LOOT to be sure that we have a clean, patched game now.

LOOT after cleaning

And, of course, run the game just to be on the safe side.

Fallout 3 first patched run

3.5. Enabling the console

The game console is not strictly neccesary to fix the game, but it will come in handy to test the fixes we apply.

I am using the console to cheat my way out the Vault 101, because testing each new mod with a fresh start may be weary, to say the least.

Enabling the console means editing FALLOUT3.INI file in [%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Fallout3], setting the following line, which should be enabled by default (make sure you make a backup copy first):

bAllowConsole=1

The actual key used to activate the console depends on the language layout you are using, but it should be to the left of the 1 key. In en-US keyboards it is bound to the tilde character ~, but, for example, in the es-ES layout (Spanish), that key is bound to the numeral character º.

To test the console, start the game and press the corresponding key while in the main menu. A tiny vertical cursor will appear in the lower left corner of the screen. Run the following command:

GetDayOfWeek

The system should print something like:

GetDayOfWeek >> 5.00

Fallout 3 testing the console

There is no way to change the key assigned to the console, unless you install Console Key Binder mod. However, you should keep your mod stack to a minimum. If you want to install this mod nonetheless, you should have installed first Fallout Script Extender, which we will be covering in a later section.

Finally, there is an exhaustive list of console commands in the awesome Fallout 3 Tweaking Guide.

3.6. Enabling access to 4+ GB of memory

Fallout 3 does not use all the available memory it could have due to its 32 bits nature. However, you can modify the game executable to take advantage of all the memory it can get.

Gopher explains the way to go with this video about performance and stability in Fallout 3 (26:38) (the video touches several topics, but the one we are focusing on spans from the beginning to 08:55, give or take).

We don’t want to clutter our system with unnecessary tools, so we are sticking with Large Address Aware Enabler for Fallout 3.

  1. Download the mod manually (not using NMM), and extract its contents in a location of your choice ([%LAA_FOLDER%], for reference).
  2. Create a backup of the file Fallout3.exe from [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty].
  3. Copy the file Fallout3.exe to [%LAA_FOLDER].
  4. Run START.BAT in [%LAA_FOLDER%]. A console window will appear, reporting that the patching is about to start. Press any key.
    LAA Enabler
  5. Several options are shown. We want to press A to add the LAA feature to Fallout 3 executable.
    LAA Enabler options
  6. LAA Enabler patches the executable and happily informs us about it. Press any key.
    LAA Enabler successful
  7. The program goes back to the options window. Press E to exit.
  8. Copy back Fallout3.exe to its original location.

And that’s really it. Now Fallout 3 is prepared to handle more than 2 GB of RAM, improving stability.

3.7. Fallout 3 Script Extender

If you ever want to install a single mod in Fallout 3, you will need Fallout Script Extender (FOSE, for short).

Well… That’s not exactly true, as there may be mods that does not make use of the capabilites provided by FOSE (we have been using a few, so far). But they will be a minority. And we will need this tool ahead the road.

As usual, Gopher has published a worth watching video about the installation and use of FOSE (10:07).

  1. Download the latest version of FOSE (1.2b2 as of this writing). You should download the 7Z version (not the loader).
  2. Extract the contents of the archive into a folder of your choice.
  3. Copy the contents of the folder to [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty], except the folder [src], which contains FOSE source code.
  4. Create a shortcut for the file fose_loader.exe in a location of your choice (e.g., your desktop).
  5. Rename the shortcut to whatever name you feel comfortable with. I go with Fallout 3, because I keep the older shortcut, using the launcher, to configure the game, thus renaming it to Fallout 3 (config).
    Fallout 3 launch shortcuts
  6. If you, like me, think that the default shortcut icon is Deathclaw shit, it might be worth considering an alternate icon. Download the .ico version and copy it to [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty].
  7. Right-click on the shortcut icon and select Properties.
    Fallout 3 shortcut properties
  8. In the Shortcut tab, select the option Change icon….
    Fallout 3 shortcut change icon
  9. The system dutifully informs you that fose_loader.exe (the executable the shortcut refers to) does not contain any available icon. Click Ok.
    Fallout 3 shortcut no default icon
  10. The system shows a floating window where you could select one of the shitty system default icons. Just click on Browse…
    Fallout 3 shortcut select icon
  11. Select the .ico file you downloaded before and click Open.
    Fallout 3 shortcut open icon
  12. Back to the icon selection window, click on Ok.
    Fallout 3 shortcut icon selected
  13. Back to the properties window, click on Ok.
    Fallout 3 shortcut properties final
  14. Et voila! We have now two great-looking icons to launch Fallout 3, one to configure it and the other to actually launch a mod-friendly version of the game.
    Fallout 3 launch shortcuts final
  15. We are going to test that FOSE is correctly installed, and for that, launch the game with the new shortcut. In the main menu screen, activate the console and write GetFOSEVersion. You should get something like FOSE version: 1.
    Fallout 3 FOSE installed

FOSE provides a whole new set of console commands you can use, although they are not strictly necessary.

3.8. Getting rid of stutter

Fallout 3 suffers from stuttering, this is, there are certain points in the game where the visuals are lacking in fluidity. Although this can be reduced by optimizing your system (updating your graphics driver to the top, unfragmenting the hard drive, and son on), there is still a micro-stuttering that can be perceived in lower-spec machines when framerate suddenly changes.

In the same video about performance and stability (26:38), Gopher talks about this problem, from minute 08:55 to 16:40, more or less. We are going to install our first mod (apart from the unofficial patch), and for this, we are going to need [Nexus Mod Manager] or NMM. This is the tool that allows to keep track of the installed mods, along with their updates.

Provided that you have installed NMM:

  1. Run NMM. If this is the first time you do so, NMM searchs for the games it knows of, modding-wise. In this context, we are only interested in Fallout 3, so as soon as NMM finds it, we should confirm the location (with the green tick mark under the name of the game) and then clicking on Ok.
    NMM searching for games
  2. NMM shows then a game selection window, with a list of games which mods NMM is managing. Select Fallout 3 and click on Ok (you can select Don’t ask me next time, if you feel like to).
    NMM select Fallout 3
  3. NMM needs to know the paths where the mods are going to be stored before installing them, and so it reminds you. Click on Ok.
    NMM setup paths
  4. NMM has already made sensible choices for you, but feel free to change the suggested paths if you want. When you are finished, click Finish.
    NMM confirm paths
  5. NMM may organize your mods in categories, but I don’t find that useful. It might be if you have a fuckload of mods, but then, I would recommend long holidays in a quiet and computer-free place, for the sake of your sanity. I would say no in the next window, but it’s up to you.
    NMM no categories
  6. Finally, the programs is started, in the Mods tab.
    NMM mods tab
  7. If you take a look at the Plugins tab, you can check the presence of the unofficial patch, at the bottom of the load order, as expected.
    NMM plugins tab
  8. Open Fallout Stutter Remover mod page in your browser and navigate to the Files tab. We need the latest version (4.1.36 as of this writing) and nothing else. Download this with the manager. The mod is fairly small, so it takes a breeze to download. When downloaded, you should see something like this in NMM (adjust the user interface as necessary).
    NMM FSR downloaded
  9. Select the FSR mod in the main panel, and click on the big green check mark on the left button bar to install it.
    NMM select FSR to install
  10. Now, you should see a little green check mark to the left of the name of the mod, along with a message in the Mod Activation Queue panel reporting that the installation is complete.
    NMM FSR installation
  11. Edit the file sr_Fallout_Stutter_Remover.ini in [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty\Data\FOSE\Plugins] and change the value of the bInject_iFPSClamp to 1. Save the file and we are good to go!

3.9. Fake full-screen mode

Believe or not, one of the things that could produce a CTD every other game, is the full-screen mode. As usual, Gopher has a video explaining the problem (26:38), same as before (this part spans roughly from 17:30 to the end).

  1. Download manually the Fake Fullscreen Mode Windowed mod, not with NMM.
  2. Extract the contents of the downloaded archive to a location of your choice.
  3. Inside that folder there should be just one file, Fallout_Fullscreen.exe. Copy the file to [%STEAM_HOME%\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty].
  4. Create a shortcut to Fallout_Fullscreen.exe wherever you want, and rename it to Fallout 3 (fullscreen), for example.
    Fallout 3 launch shortcuts with fullscreen
  5. Run the launcher (Fallout 3 (config), remember?), and select Options. Take note of your current resolution.
    Fallout 3 options
  6. Mark Windowed mode and change the resolution to the previous one (every time you change to windowed mode and back, the resolution combo resets). Click Ok and exit the launcher.
    Fallout 3 options windowed
  7. Run the game with the new shortcut. The game will start with the window border, but after a little while, the window border disappears, resembling the actual fullscreen mode. This version is fully compatible with FOSE, which you can test running GetFOSEVersion in the console.

3.10. Saving games the right way

The sun rises in the East, Michael Fassbender is better than you in everything and Fallout 3 crashes. You need to come to terms with these simple truths of life.

Even with a fully patched game, Fallout 3 spits you out to the desktop now and then. In these cases, your only way back is to restore a saved game. But saved games do get corrupted sometimes. And, unless you have been saving your game A FUCKING LOT, and when I say “saving”, I mean not quicksaving, you are doomed.

There is a mod called CASM to address that problem. CASM automates saving your game in a sensible way, and it provides two key shortcuts to replace the standard quicksave/quickload built-in feature:

CASM also saves the game automatically with a given frequency and under certain events. Let’s see how to install this mod.

  1. Launch the game. When the main menu appears, click on Settings and then Gameplay.
    Fallout 3 gameplay settings
  2. Disable all three options (Save On Rest, Save On Wait and Save On Travel).
    Fallout 3 autosave disabled
  3. Exit the game and download CASM using NMM.
    NMM CASM downloaded
  4. Activate CASM double-clicking on the mod name.
    NMM CASM installation complete
  5. Check that CASM is loaded at the bottom of the mod stack in the Plugins tab of NMM.
    NMM CASM loaded last
  6. Close NMM and run LOOT. Click on the Sort Plugins icon to fix the load order. Notice that CASM still sits at the bottom, and no conflicts are detected (this step is fairly unnecessary, but you need to get used to routinely rearrange your load order).
    LOOT after installing CASM

4. Enhancing the game

What comes next is pretty much a matter of personal taste. While fixing the game should be completed head to toe for everyone, enhancing the game is something you need to consider, balancing pros and cons.

A rule of thumb: less is more. The fewer mods you install, the better. That said, there are a few areas where the game can be greatly improved.

Mods in this section roughly fall into one of these categories:

It is tempting to install 200 mods, yelling “WOW!” each time you step into one awesome mod you suddenly discover you cannot live without. Nevertheless, before installing a new mod, think carefully, because you will need to:

This is not for the faint of heart, and, remember, our goal is to play the game, not to play the best fucking overmodded possible game.

When it comes to mods, not only the load order is important, but also the install order. You need to be careful, because some mods overwrite files previously written (or overwritten) by other mods.

4.1. Mods to install

These are the mods we are going to install:

5. Resources

This is a comprehensive list of the resources used throughtout this guide.

5.1. Tools

5.2. Guides

5.3. Mods

5.4. Videos